How Travel Benefits You and Your Photography

It’s fair to mention that travel can be expensive, and with life’s commitments, having the money and time to travel can be challenging. If you are fortunate enough to be able to travel, I encourage you to go somewhere, even if you know nothing about the place you plan to visit. There are many benefits of breaking your daily routine and experiencing a difference in your day-to-day.

I’m always thinking of that next trip with the anticipation of discovering new places, trying new food, and immersing in unfamiliar cultures. Beyond the excitement of exploring new places, travel offers many benefits that contribute to personal growth, well-being, and a deeper connection.

Vik, Iceland - 2016

1. Personal Development

One of the most important aspects of travel is the effect on your personal development. Depending on where you travel, you could experience a culture that differs from your own. You are immersed in a different way of life. From overcoming language barriers to adapting to new environments, travel challenges you to build self-reliance and stepping outside your comfort zone widens your perspective. Travel can also challenge you in ways you might not expect; navigating through airports, train stations, and public transportation, making quick decisions on the go, and handling unexpected situations help you develop as a person and refine independence as you tackle those scenarios head-on.

2. Inspire Creativity

Unfamiliar places and situations can inspire your creativity by exposing you to what is new, as every destination offers a unique history, culture, and architecture waiting to be explored. As it’s easy to fall into a pattern of repetition and normality at home, getting yourself into locations or within new cultures can inspire new approaches to your outlook and photographic work. As creativity is sparked by everything around you, the environment can inspire you to take your photographic interests in new directions as you work with different lighting, compositions, and restrictions, potentially creating an appreciation of new genres and looks.

3. Appreciation of Time

Travel encourages you to live in the moment, and whether you are travelling for a year, a month, or even a couple of days, your time doing so is limited. With that realization, you take advantage by being fully engaged in the experience, and you appreciate it more with the knowledge that your experience is finite. Also, the fact that this could be the first and only time in your life that you can be here doing these things makes you appreciate the time spent experiencing it, creating numerous memories that continue long after the journey ends.

4. Improving Health

I will start by saying that the process of travelling itself will probably make you feel awful. For long periods, you are sitting in an airport, eating expensive and unhealthy meals and junk snacks, or perhaps in a cramped airplane seat (unless you splurge), eating mediocre airplane food and breathing recycled air for hours. It will make you feel dirty and exhausted. But once you arrive at your destination, things start to improve.

I’ll base this purely on my own experiences, but my travel involves a fair amount of exploring, which in most cases is done on foot. Exploring can include multiple hours of walking and thousands of steps and can be in somewhat challenging environments. (Lisbon was extraordinarily hilly and hot) It’s a long, physical day, but the next morning, I usually feel pretty energized and ready to go again. This combines the excitement of being there, the experience so far, and the realization that I need to make the most of each day. The more energy I spend, the more energy I seem to have. Overall, physical activity in any environment will be beneficial and spending that time with those you cherish is even better.

Florence Cathedral - 2018

Conclusion

Travel can be rewarding for you and how you develop as a photographer. One of the most enjoyable aspects of travel is immersing oneself in foreign cultures. Stepping away from your routine and navigating unfamiliar territory contributes to your personal growth in your desire and outlook, as well as your health and well-being. Finally, the connection between travel and photography is well established. Looking back on what you have experienced through your photographs can fuel your desire to continue and capture new ways to reflect those experiences.